Web rewinder

ABSTRACT

A vertical two drum winder for rewinding webs, said winder including a plurality of winding stations. Each winding station includes a pair of support structures in spaced relation. A movable carriage is slidably supported in each support structure and a chuck structure is disposed on the inboard side of the carriage to support the core of the web. The chuck structure is cantilevered from the carriage to substantially reduce the bending forces on the web core. A friction dampening structure is engageable with each support structure to minimize vibration. Another feature of the winder is that the carriage is movable in a vertical direction in the two drum area to engage the core with both the drums for starting and furthermore the carriage moves the core out of contact with the bottom drum as the diameter of the web on the core increases.

Lucas [451 Feb. 19, 1974 [54] WEB REWINDER [75] inventor: Robert Grundy Lucas, Janesville,

Wis.

[73] Assignee: Beloit Corporation, Beloit, Wis.

[22] Filed: Mar. 1, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 230,785

[52] U.S. Cl. 242/66, 242/56.2, 242/67.3 R, 242/68.3 [51] Int. Cl B65h 17/08, B65h 17/02 [58] Field of Search 242/66, 65, 56.2, 67.1 R, 67.2, 242/67.3 R, 68.3

Primary ExaminerJ0hn W. Huckert Assistant Examiner-Edward J. McCarthy Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Bruce L. Samlan; Dirk J. Veneman Agent-Gerald A. Mathews [57] ABSTRACT A vertical two drum winder for rewinding webs, said winder including a plurality of winding stations. Each winding station includes a pair of support structures in spaced relation. A movable carriage is slidably sup ported in each support structure and a chuck strubture is disposed on the inboard side of the carriage to support the core of the web. The chuck structure is cantilevered from the carriage to substantially reduce the bending forces on the web core. A friction dampening structure is engageable with each support structure to minimize vibration. Another feature of the winder is that the carriage is movable in a vertical direction in the two drum area to engage the core with both the drums for starting and furthermore the carriage moves the core out of contact with the bottom drum as the diameter of the web on the core increases.

17 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEB FEB I 9l974 SHEET 1 OF 4 FIG; 2

PATENTE FEB 1 91974 SHEET Q [1F 4 WEB REWINDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The following disclosure relates to a winder for the rewinding of webs of material such as paper and the like and more specifically to a vertical two drum winder.

In the rewinding of paper from large widths, the paper is slit into smaller widths and must be rewound into large diameter rolls of preselected widths.

There are basically two types of core support surface rewinders commercially available. The first is a single drum winder and the second is the two drum winder which is commercially available under the name BI- WIND which is a trademark of Beloit Corporation. Single drum winders are limited in their application inasfar as large rolls are concerned, since they suffer from not being able to start the winding of the web on the core tightly enough, so that slippage at the core occurs when the winding roll gets to larger diameters. To reduce this slippage effect with single drum surface winders, center torque has to be applied to the core. Secondly, some single drum winders are very limited in movement in the cross machine direction so that they are not readily adjustable for different widths of slitted webs.

A typical BI-WIND is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,383,064 by Daly et al which issued May 14, 1968 and is assigned to the present assignee. The two drum winder disclosed therein provides for different speeds between the two vertically spaced drums to insure a tight start of winding paper at the core so that large diameter rolls may be wound. Although this type of two drum winder has enjoyed substantial commercial success, certain problems have been discovered. In the two drum winders as shown in the above cited patent the expandable chucks which were used were cantilevered from the web core and were free to rotate on level rails as the web increases in diameter and as the web continued to be wound up. The summation of the bending moments resulting from weight of the roll and the reaction from the nip loading forces caused the core to have substantial bending under certain conditions. This bending caused difficult winding problems because of the non-uniform nips between the winding roll and the winding drums, and at larger roll diameters, where the external forces would flex the core inside the wound roll, the paper roll would sometimes be destroyed within the roll.

A further problem which was the result of the external moment applied to the core was that nip sensitive or the slippery grades of paper were not effectively wound on this type of winding machine. Finally at large diameter winding of rolls, and with bulky, high friction papers, severe vibrations occured at the winding station which at times created extreme vibrational problems.

It would be desirable then to design a winder having the advantages of a vertical two drum winder, wherein a wider range of paper webs can be wound, the cores thereon would not be subjected to the large external moment, and the vibrational problems existing can be substantially reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A winder for the rewinding of wide webs of materials such as paper and the like into smaller width rolls. The winder includes a frame which supports two winder drums of horizontal axes vertically spaced relative to each other within the frame and rotatably supported therein. A plurality of winding stations are provided in close proximity to the winder drums for winding the cores of the web. Each winding station includes a pair of carriage support structures for slidably supporting movable carriage structures thereon, one carriage structure being supported on each support structure. On each carriage structure a chuck is secured thereto to support one-half of the core which is to be wound. The chuck structures are cantilevered from the carriage such that the core weight is supported within the core to minimize the bending forces on the core. A preferred embodiment of the chuck can be found in R. G. Lucas co-pending application, Ser. No. 230,68l filed Mar. 1, I972.

The carriage is designed to allow the chuck structure to move in a generally vertical direction in the area adjacent to the vertical drums to insure nip engagement with both vertical drums at the beginning of the winding of the web while generally allowing the core to build up in a horizontal direction. As the carriage retracts from the vertical drums the carriage moves the partially wound core outof engagement with the lower vertical drum.

Another feature of the invention resides in a dampening structure which is engagable with the carriage support structures to create frictional dampening corresponding to the vibration in the winding roll.

What is disclosed then is a winder for winding webs of material which is of the vertical spaced two drum type having a chuck cantilevered from a movable carriage to minimize the external movement on the core, thereby enabling a more uniform nip to allow the winding of nip sensitive webs. Vibrations are minimized allowing also the winding of low grade webs. Finally, the resultant structure is of a very compact packaging arrangement to greatly reduce and minimize the amount of space needed for installation thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a winder utilizing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the winder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a portion of a winding shown in FIG. 1 and on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged elevational view of a carriage assembly shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the carriage assembly shown in FIG. 4; I

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a carriage assembly taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a portion of a carriage assembly; and 7 FIG. 8 is a view partially section taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings and more specifically to FIG. 1, there is shown a winder 10 for rewinding rolls of paper and which may also be used for winding textiles, film or plastic film or laminates. A roll of paper 11 is suitably mounted on a roll stand 12 for rotational movement with respect thereto and a roll of paper is trained around guide roll 13, which is suitably mounted by means not shown to the winder frame structure 14.

From the guide roll 13 the web is trained over an idler roll- 15 suitably journalled between two horizontal portions 17 and 18 of the frame 14 (FIGS. 1 and 2). From idler roll 15, the web W is trained over idler rolls 20 and 21 which is suitably journalled between horizontal beam portions 17 and 18. From roll 21 the web W goes through the slitter structure 23 slitting the web longitudinally at two places to divide the web into three sheets, as best seen in FIG. 2. From the slitter 23 the webs are trained around tension roll 24 for maintaining the proper tension on the webs. From the tension roll 24 the webs are trained around a bowed spreader roll 26. The bowed spreader roll 26 is suitably journalled in a vertical beam portion 27 of the frame 14, only one beam being shown.

From the spreader roll 26, the web is trained around an upper winder drum 29. In a spaced vertical relationship with the drum 29 is a lower winder drum 30. Both drums 29 and 30 are journalled within the vertica beam portion 27 of frame 14. i

As previously mentioned in the particular embodiment shown, the web is broken into three individual width rolls which must be wound on three winding stations 32, 33 and 34 as best seen in FIG. 2. One width of the web is trained along winding drum 29 to core shaft 36 associated with the firstwinding station 32, a second adjacent portion of the web is trained downwardly along the winder drum 29 to a second core 37, the second core being associated with the second winding station 33 and the third web is trained to a third core (not shown) associated with the third windingstation 34. Each core shaft is wedged between the upper drum 29'and the lower drum 30 to affect rewinding of the slit web to maintain a predetermined tension on the web and result in a hard rolled web on the cores particularly at the initiation of the winding operation and at the center of the roll.

In accordance with the principles taught in the previouslycited Daly et al patent, the lower winder drum is driven at a higher rate of speed than the upper winder drum 29 to maintain this predetermined web tension on the core. This can be done by any suitable driving structure (not shown).

It should be understood that any desired number of winding stations with corresponding slitters may be provided in accordance with the desired width of the web to be rewound and the number of webs to be formed. Because the winding stations 32, 33 and 34 are substantially similar to each other, only one need be described.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, winding station 32 is comprised of two carriage support structures 38 and 35. The support structures 38 and include two corresponding vertically supporting members 39 and 40 and two horizontal supports members 42 and 43 secured to the vertical members.

The carriage support structures 38 and 35 are adjustable by any suitable means in a cross machine direction in the inverted T-slots 48 which is defined in reinforced concrete foundation structure 49. Any suitable cross machine adjustment may be utilized, such as by power means or a manual rack and pinion arrangement. This flexibility of cross machine adjustmentis limited only by the given width dimension of the winding station. Power means may also be utilized to move the support structures to remove the wound rolls.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, a more detailed description will follow of the carriage support structure 38. Only one carriage support structure 38 will be described since the other support structure 35 is substantially similar. The horizontal carriage support member 42 is comprised of two rail structures 51 and 52 (FIGS. 5 and 6) which are in spaced relation from each other. Two horizontally extending grooves 54 and 55 are defined within the corresponding inner walls of rail structures 51 and 52 (FIGS. 5 and 6) and the grooves extend substantially along the entire horizontal length of the horizontal carriage support member 42 as best seen in FIG. 3. The horizontal carriage support member 42 has a substantially horizontally, extending top surface 57 which surface has a downwardly tapered surface 58 at the end of the horizontal member 42 adjacent the lower drum 30. It is also noted that the horizontal member 42 is in spaced relation relative to the vertical drum 30 and the top surface 57 is positioned vertically below the centerline LL separating the vertically spaced upper winder drum 29 and the lower drum 30.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the rail structures 51 and 52 are fixed relative to each other by means of a T-shaped housing structure 60 which rests against two horizontal flanges 61 and 62 which are directed inwardly from the corresponding rail structures 51 and 52. Any suitable fastening means (not shown) can be used to fasten the housing 60 to the flanges 61 and 62.'

As best seen in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, a movable carriage assembly 65 is slidably disposed within the groove 54 and 55 in the carriage support structure. The movable carriage assembly 65 includes an inner carriage structure 67 and an outer carriage structure 68, which are best seen in FIGS. 4 and 7.

The inner carriage structure 67 has four anti-friction crowned bearings 70 (FIGS. 5 and 6) secured to the bottom portion 72 thereof by any suitable means such as threaded bolt and nut structures 71. The bearings 70 are secured to the sides of the bottom portion 72 of the inner carriage 67. One pair of bearings are secured to the front of the bottom portion 72 and the other pair are secured to the back of the bottom portion. The bearings rotatably carry the inner carriage (FIGS. 5 and 6) in the corresponding grooves 54 and 55 in the rail structures 51'and 52. The inner carriage 67 has a vertical extending end portion '73 and a vertically extending central portion 74 extending from the bottom portion 72. The end and central portions 73 and 74 are in spaced relation relative to each other thereby partially defining a receiving cavity 75. A spring support structure 77 is secured to the bottom portion 72 of the inner casing and extends vertically upward therefrom. A U-shaped keyway or slot 78 is provided in the bottom portion 72 on the upper surface between the vertical and central portions 73 and 74 (FIGS. 4 and 7).

The outer carriage portion 68 (FIGS. 4 and 7) has a forward portion 79 on whichthe chuck structure 81 is disposed on the forward wall (also see FlG. S). A foot portion 82 eiitends vertically downward from the forward portion and disposed on each side in a wear strip 83, which may preferably be made of a suitable woven polytetrafluoroethylene filament material. At the rearward portion 84 of the outer carriage 68 there is defined a second downwardly extending foot portion 86. Also disposed on both sides thereon is a pair of wear strips 87 made of similar material to that of strips 83. On the top portion 88 of the outer carriage 68, there is defined a rectangular cutout 90. Also disposed in a vertically downward direction is a spring support 91 which corresponds to spring support 77 in the inner carriage 67.

In the assembled position, vertical extending end and central portions 73 and 74 on the inner carriage 67 extend vertically upward into the cutout 90 in the outer carriage 68. Compression spring 92 is mounted on spring supports 77 and 91 to urge the two carriage structures 67 and 68 away from each other. The bottom surfaces of the outer carriage 68 are in spaced relation with the top surfaces of the ledge portion of the inner carriage 67. I

An aperture 94 is disposed in approximately the central area of the outer carriage 68 and a corresponding aperture 95 is disposed in the vertical central portion 74 in the inner carriage 67.. A suitable pivot pin 96 (FIG. 4) is locked into place within the aperture 94 and 95 to lock the inner and outer carriages 67 and 68 relative to each other but permit relative rotational movement therebetween.

Also disposed from the outer carriage 68 is a rotatable cam structure 97 (FIGS. 3-7). As best seen in FIG. 3, the cam follower 97 rides on the top surface 57 of inner rail structure 52.

Disposed within the receiving cavity 75, defined within the carriage structure 38 is a frictional dampening structure 100 (FIGS. 3, 4 and 6). The friction dampening structure 100 includes a substantially rectangularly shaped top portion 102. The top portion 102 has an air inlet passageway 103 defined therein. Secured to the top portion 102 is a cylindrical barrel portion 104 which houses the slidable piston 106 therein. Secured to the bottom of the piston 106 is the piston rod 107 which moves in a vertical direction and is dependent on the movement of the piston. The cylindrical barrel portion 104 is secured at the bottom end to the cylinder head portion 108, The piston rod 107 extends through the cylinder head portion 108 in a slidable manner and is disposed in-keyway 78 as best seen in FIGS. 4 8.

A bar member 110 (FIGS. 5 and 6) extends in a cross machine direction and is engagable at a center aperture 112 thereof by the .smaller diameter lower portion of the piston rod 107 (FIG. 6). As shown, on both ends of the bar member 110 are friction elements 113. The elements may be bonded to the bar and upon the wearing thereof the bar may be inverted to allow the samebar to have a longer life. An alternative embodiment may be a frusto-pyramidical shaped replaceable element which has its tapered sides in the vertical upward direction as shown in FIG. 8 and numeral 115. In this embodiment, the bar 110 need not be replaced. The friction dampening structure 100 is secured to the inner casing portions 67 by any suitable means such as 117 and 118, as shown in FIG. 4. The bar member 110 is disposed within the keyway 78 (FIG. 8) and slides up and down therein to assist in the friction dampening function.

For proper dampening of the winding station, frictional dampening is utilized rather than viscous dampening. In viscous dampening, the dampening force is applied to the velocity of the oscillating motion of the roll being wound as it moves in a horizontal direction. The velocity however is out of phase with the displacement or the horizontal motion and because of this the dampening force is also out of phase. Therefore, viscous dampening is not extremely effective in dampening a roll being wound. In friction dampening, however, a control circuit 120 (FIG. 4) is utilized to regulate the flow of any suitable fluid through a control valve 121. The circuit 120 is preferably a circuit which has a dampening force reacting to any horizontal displacement of the roll being wound. The control circuit is operable so that any positive or negative displacement of the roll would produce a corresponding positive or negative dampening force. This theory of dampening,

therefore substantially dampens'the vibrations of the roll being wound before it reaches its potential maximum displacement or vibration if friction dampening were not provided. A detailed control circuit is not shown since any suitable circuit may be utilized and are known in the art. The control circuit may be electric, hydraulic or pneumatic.

Variables which can be utilized to determine the proper signal to be sent to the valve 121 are constant supply signal S, the width of the roll to be wound D, the desired nip loading per linear dimension N, and the load sharing L, between the right and left carriage sup port members. Therefore, it can readily be seen that the friction dampening structure can easily be programmed to minimize or substantially reduce the vibrations of the winding station.

The control circuit can also be used to regulate the amount of pressure within a carriage biasing device 123. The biasing device is best shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. The carriage biasing device 123 as shown consists basically of a hollow cylinder member 124 in which any suitable pressurized fluid can be utilized therein to move a piston 125 disposed within the cylinder member 124. As best seen in FIG. 6, the cylinder 124 is disposed within the T-housing member 60. Secured to both sides of the piston member 124 is a suitable cable 126, the'cable being wrapped around rotating wheel structures 127 and 128, which are disposed in opposite ends of the support structure. The cable 126 is secured to the front and rear bottom portions of the inner casing portion 67 as best seen in FIG. 3. The biasing force of the movable carriage assembly 65 is thereby regulated by the corresponding portion of the piston 125 within the carriage biasing device 123. The fluid signal to determine the force exerted by the carriage can be controlled by the same control circuit 120 and valve 121 used to control the friction dampening structure 100.

In operation, the movable carriage assembly 65 (FIG. 3) moves in the grooves 54 and 55 to the extreme forward position as shown in phantom. In the forward position, the core 36 is in the initial winding position. The cam follower 97 is in spaced relation from the slanted surface 58 of the rail structure 51 thereby allowing the outer carriage portion 68 to pivot around pivot structure 96 resulting in a vertically upand down movement of the forward tip of the outer carriage, chuck structure 81, and attached core 36. The core 36 therefore engages both the vertically upper winding drum 29 and the lower drum 30. This vertical freedom of movement automatically positions the core 36 so that it is in proper nip relation with the two vertically spaced drums 29 and 30 respectively.

As previously recited in the aforedescribed Daly et al patent, the drums are driven at different relative speeds insuring an initial tight wrapping of the web around core 36. The carriage biasing device 123 exerts a reaction on the carriage assembly 65 toward the winding drums on both pairs of carriage assemblies to maintain in biasing relation the core with the web wound thereon into engagement with the winder drums.

As the core with the web attached thereto increases in diameter, the increased diameter thereof forces the carriage assembly to slowly retract along the carriage assembly in a direction away from the vertical winder drums.

As will readily be appreciated, the core and wound web thereon is cantilevered from the chuck 81 onto the carriage assembly and is thereby cantilevered to the winding station frame. As the web increases in diameter, the cam follower 97 eventually makes contact with the slanted surface 58 of the top surface 57 as shown in phantom. At this point in the winding procedure, the web being wound is still in contact with both the upper and lower drums 29 and 30 respectively. As the diameter however increases the cam follower 97 begins to absorb most of the weight of the wound roll. As this is being done, the outer carriage portion 68 will slowly be raised vertically and will be taken out of contact with the lower winder drum 30. By the time the cam follower 97 reaches the flat horizontal top portion 57 of the rail structure, the wound core will receive the full nip loading due only to the nip engagement with the vertical upper drum 29.

During this starting condition since the carriage assembly 65 has a downward force due to the weight of the carriage which could upset the desirable splitting of the webs or sharing of the drum nip loads, the counter balancing compression spring 92 is provided to eliminate the effect of the carriage weight.

The length of the slope of the rail is designed to eliminate the possibility of the sag from the roll as it is being wound from touching the bottom drum at larger diameters. Once on the top level surface 57 of the rail structures, the nip loading is not effected by gravity at all. To minimize vibration or .the tendency of the carriage 65 to chatter in the cross machine direction, the wear strips 83 and 87 are provided on the carriage to insure a tight fit but are made from woven pure polytetrafluoroethylene fibers thus allowing the carriage assembly to have the agility to move in a forward or rearward horizontal direction.

As previously mentioned, one common problem in winding paper is the severe vibration problems invqlved. The control circuit 120 is designed to regulate the amount of pressurized fluid passing through the valve 121 into the friction dampening structure 100.

Upon receiving a horizontal oscillatory movement due riage structure pressurizing the cylinder barrel 104 (FIGS. 4 and 6) and movingthe piston 106 in a vertically downward direction. This forces the piston rod 107 to move vertically downward and engage the bar member 110 which is frictionally, but slidably disposed within keyway 78. The friction bar 110 is closely fit to the keyway 78, the significance of which is to allow the friction dampening device to sense and correct for the slightest oscillation of the winding roll. The force from the piston rod 107 on the ,bar causes frictional abutment between the friction element 1 l3 and the top surface 57 of the rail structures 51 and 52. Since the bar member 110 and friction elements are tied into the inner carriage portion 67 and since the bearings 70 are also secured to the inner carriage portion, the force of the friction elements on the top surface 57 of the rail structures will tend to vertically move the inner carriage structure in a vertically upward manner. The small tolerances between the bearing and the grooves 54 and 55 are quickly bridged and the bearings will thus engage the top horizontal portion of the grooves. The friction dampening thereby exerts a clamping effect between the friction elements 113 and the bearings 70, clamping the rail structures. Since the dampening is variable relative to the input signals, excellent friction dampening can be maintained for almost any size or speed of roll to be wound.

Finally, although not shown, shock absorbers and limit switches can be installed near the leftmost portion of the carriage assembly to limit the backward movement of the carriage assembly in the eject position. When all rolls are in the eject position, the limit switches activate suitable roll lift tables (not shown) to engage the rolls. Power means unchuck the wound roll and the lift table removes the roll allowing a new roll to be inserted. After being wound and reaching this position the roll of paper is taken out of contact with the upper winder drum 29.

What is described then is a winding structure for rewinding webs of a vertical two drum winder. The cores are supported in a cantilevered manner from a movable carriage structure which is supported on the winding station. The cantilevered support enables a reduction in the bending moments on the core resulting in more uniform nips at starting core diameters, a reduction of core bending resulting from supporting the roll weight, and a reduction in winding roll vibration. Furthermore, the movable carriage structure is designed to properly position the core between the two vertical drums and yet retract to remove the core being wound from the lower vertical drum after the initial winding startup. The winding stations which are capable of being adjusted can accommodate any desired slit width of the paper being cut which is limited only by the width dimensions of the winding station. Finally, a frictional dampening structure is provided which corresponds to the horizontal movement of the core being wound to substantially reduce vibrations in the winding machine.

Although only one embodiment is shown, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited thereof but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A winder for winding webs of material into rolls, said winder including a frame, a pair of vertically spaced winder drums rotatably supported in said frame, a winding station for winding a web onto a core, said winding station comprising:

at least one movable carriage structure,

at least one portion of said support structure being substantially horizontal for slidably supporting said carriage thereon,

a chuck structure secured from said carriage in a cantilevered manner to support said core, to minimize the bending forces on said core,

said core being movable into engagement with said winder drums, and

said carriage being retractable as said web is wound on said core.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of movable carriage structures, and a corresponding plurality of support and chuck structures.

3. The structure recited in claim 2 wherein each carriage support structure includes a rail structure defining generally horizontally extending grooves therein,

the carriage structure having rollers which are slidably disposed in said grooves to move said carriage structure in a generally horizontal direction.

4. The structure recited in claim 2 wherein each carriage support structure includes a rail structure,

said rail structure being disposed adjacent to the drums, but in spaced relation therefrom,

said rail structure having a generally horizontal top surface, said surface being tapered downwardly on the end adjacent the vertical drums.

5. The structure recited in claim 4 wherein a plurality of rolling members are secured to the carriage structure,

said rolling members secured in the grooves defined in the support structure to allow the carriage structure to roll therein in a generally horizontal direction,

means to allow said carriage structure to move the chuck structures secured thereto in a generally vertical direction in the area adjacent to the vertical drums.

6. The structure recited in claim 2 wherein each carriage support structure includes a rail structure,

said rail structure being in spaced relation relative to the vertical drums,

said rail structure having an upper horizontal surface being below a horizontal centerline dividing the spacing between the two vertical drums,

said rail structure having a slanted top surface portion sloping downwardly towards the lower vertical drum,

the rail structure having two rail members in spaced relation and defining horizontally extending grooves,

the carriage structure having bearing members attached thereto,

and said bearing members being trapped in said grooves to carry said carriage along the path defined by said grooves.

7. The structure recited in claim 6 and further including a cam follower,

said cam follower being rotatably secured to said carriage structure,

said cam follower being in rolling contact with the upper horizontal surface of the rail structure, and said carriage structure being supportable by said follower along the horizontal rail surface when the carriage is in a retracted position, and

said cam follower being in spaced relation from the slanted top surface portion in the area adjacent the vertical drums, when the carriage is in the forward position.

8. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein the carriage structure comprises:

an inner carriage structure and an outer carriage structure,

said inner carriage structure having roller members secured thereto and said inner carriage structure being movable within the carriage support structure,

said outer carriage structure cooperating in overlapping relationship with said inner carriage,

a pin structure being disposed through said inner and outer carriage structures to secure said carriages relative to each other and further allow rotational movement of said inner and outer carriages relative to each other.

9. The structure recited in claim 1 and further including a carriage biasing member,

said biasing member being secureable to the carriage structure,

said biasing member exerting a force on the carriage structure in a direction towards the vertical drums to maintain the core with the web thereon in a nip relation with at least one of the drums.

10. The structure recited in claim 9 wherein the force from the biasing member which is exerted on the carriage is programmed so that a constant force is exerted on the carriage structure in response to a horizontal movement of the carriage structure.

11. The structure recited in claim 9 wherein the biasing member includes a cylinder structure having a slid able piston member secured therein,

means to supply a pressurized fluid to said cylinder to exert a force on said piston member, and

a cable secured to said piston member and being secured to said carriage to move the same in response to the force from said pressurized fluid.

12. The structure recited in claim 1 and further including a frictional dampening structure, said structure being secured to said support structures and said dampening structure reacting to the vibrations of the movement of the core.

13. The structure recited in claim 11 wherein the dampening structure is fastened to the carriage structure to frictionally engage the support structures.

14. The structure recited in claim 1 and further including a frictional dampening structure, said structure comprising a housing member havinga top portion, a central portion and a bottom portion,

a fluid inlet aperture disposed in said top portion, a slideable piston member disposed in said central portion, a piston rod secured to said piston member and extending downwardly through the bottom portion,

a friction bar member engageable with said piston rod and activated by the same,

said housing member being secured to said carriage structure,

means to supply a fluid signal through said inlet aperture to activate said piston member and said rod attached thereto to move said bar member and frictionally engage the carriage support structure and dampen the vibrational motion.

15. The structure recited in claim 14 wherein the fluid signal supply means includes a fluid signal control valve structure, and a control circuit to regulate the said valve structure,

said circuit being programmable to receive a plurality a pair of carriage support structures for slidably supporting said carriage thereon, one -support structure corresponding to each carriage,

a chuck structure secured to each of said carriages to support said core,

said core being movable into engagement with said winder drums,

said carriage structure being retractable as said web is wound on said core, and

said chuck structures being cantilevered from said carriages to minimize the bending forces on said core,

each carriage support structure including a rail structure defining generally horizontally extending grooves therein,

the carriage structure having rollers which are slidably disposed in said grooves to move said carriage structure in a generally horizontal direction;

said rail structure being disposed adjacent to the drums but in spaced relation therefrom,

said rail structure having a generally horizontal top surface, said surface being tapered downwardly on the end adjacent the vertical drums,

means to allow said carriage structure to move the chuck structures secured thereto in a generally vertical direction in the area adjacent to the vertical drums,

a cam follower, corresponding to each of said carriage structures,

said cam followers being rotatably secured to said corresponding carriage structure,

said cam follower being in rolling contact with the upper horizontal surface of the rail structure, and

. 12 said carriage structure being supportable by said follower along the horizontal rail surface, said cam follower being in spaced relation from the slanted top surface portion in the area adjacent the vertical drums,

a carriage biasing member,

said biasing member being securable to the carriage structure,

said biasing member exerting a force on the carriage structure in a direction towards the vertical drums to maintain the core with the web thereon in a nip relation with at least one of the drums,

a frictional dampening structure associated with each carriage structure,

said dampening structure being secured to said support structures and said dampening structure'reacting to the vibrations of the movement of the core.

17. The structure recited in claim 16 wherein the carriage structure comprises:

an inner carriage structure and any outer carriage structure,

said inner carriage structure having roller members secured thereto and said inner carriage structure being movable within the carriage support structure,

said outer carriage structure cooperating in overlapping relationship with said inner carriage,

a pin structure being disposed through said inner and outer carriage structures to secure said carriages relative to each other and further allow rotational movement of said inner and outer carriages relative to each other. 

1. A winder for winding webs of material into rolls, said winder including a frame, a pair of vertically spaced winder drums rotatably supported in said frame, a winding station for winding a web onto a core, said winding station comprising: at least one movable carriage structure, at least one portion of said support structure being substantially horizontal for slidably supporting said carriage thereon, a chuck structure secured from said carriage in a cantilevered manner to support said core, to minimize the bending forces on said core, said core being movable into engagement with said winder drums, and said carriage being retractable as said web is wound on said core.
 2. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of movable carriage structures, and a corresponding plurality of support and chuck structures.
 3. The structure recited in claim 2 wherein each carriage support structure includes a rail structure defining generally horizontally extending grooves therein, the carriage structure having rollers which are slidably disposed in said grooves to move said carriage structure in a generally horizontal direction.
 4. The structure recited in claim 2 wherein each carriage support structure includes a rail structure, said rail structure being disposed adjacent to the drums, but in spaced relation therefrom, said rail structure having a generally horizontal top surface, said surface being tapered downwardly on the end adjacent the vertical drums.
 5. The structure recited in claim 4 wherein a plurality of rolling members are secured to the carriage structure, said rolling members secured in the grooves defined in the support structure to allow the carriage structure to roll therein in a generally horizontal direction, means to allow said carriage structure to move the chuck structures secured thereto in a generally vertical direction in the area adjacent to the vertical drums.
 6. The structure recited in claim 2 wherein each carriage support structure includes a rail structure, said rail structure being in spaced relation relative to the vertical drums, said rail structure having an upper horizontal surface being below a horizontal centerline dividing the spacing between the two vertical drums, said rail structure having a slanted top surface portion sloping downwardly towards the lower vertical drum, the rail structure having two rail members in spaced relation and defining horizontally extending grooves, the carriage structure having bearing members attached thereto, and said bearing members being trapped in said grooves to carry said carriage along the path defined by said grooves.
 7. The structure recited in claim 6 and further including a cam follower, said cam follower being rotatably secured to said carriage structure, said cam follower being in rolling contact with the upper horizontal surface of the rail structure, and said carriage structure being supportable by said follower along the horizontal rail surface when the carriage is in a retracted position, and said cam follower being in spaced relation from the slanted top surface portion in the area adjacent the vertical drums, when the carriage is in the forward position.
 8. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein the carriage structure comprises: an inner carriage structure and an outer carriage structure, said inner carriage structure having roller members secured thereto and said inner carriage structure being movable within the carriage support structure, said outer carriage structure cooperating in overlapping relationship with said inner carriage, a pin structure being disposed through said inner and outer carriage structures to secure said carriages relative to each other and further allow rotational movement of said inner and outer carriages relative to each other.
 9. The structure recited in claim 1 and further including a carriage biasing member, said biasing member being secureable to the carriage structure, said biasing member exerting a force on the carriage structure in a direction towards the vertical drums to maintain the core with the web thereon in a nip relation with at least one of the drums.
 10. The structure recited in claim 9 wherein the force from the biasing member which is exerted on the carriage is programmed so that a constant force is exerted on the carriage structure in response to a horizontal movement of the carriage structure.
 11. The structure recited in claim 9 wherein the biasing member includes a cylinder structure having a slidable piston member secured therein, means to supply a pressurized fluid to said cylinder to exert a force on said piston member, and a cable secured to said piston member and being secured to said carriage to move the same in response to the force from said pressurized fluid.
 12. The structure recited in claim 1 and further including a frictional dampening structure, said structure being secured to said support structures and said dampening structure reacting to the vibrations of the movement of the core.
 13. The structure recited in claim 11 wherein the dampening structure is fastened to the carriage structure to frictionally engage the support structures.
 14. The structure recited in claim 1 and further including a frictional dampening structure, said structure comprising a housing member having a top portion, a central portion and a bottom portion, a fluid inlet aperture disposed in said top portion, a slideable piston member disposed in said central portion, a piston rod secured to said piston member and extending downwardly through the bottom portion, a friction bar member engageable with said piston rod and activated by the same, said housing member being secured to said carriage structure, means to supply a fluid signal through said inlet aperture to activate said piston member and said rod attached thereto to move said bar member and frictionally engage the carriage support structure and dampen the vibrational motion.
 15. The structure recited in claim 14 wherein the fluid signal supply means includes a fluid signal control valve structure, and a control circuit to regulate the said valve structure, said circuit being programmable to receive a plurality of variables depending on the type and size of web to be wound.
 16. A winder for winding webs of material into rolls, said winder including a frame, a pair of vertically spaced winder drums rotatably supported in said frame, a winding station for winding web onto a core, said winding station comprising: movable carriage structure, a pair of carriage support structures for slidably supporting said carriage thereon, one support structure corresponding to each carriage, a chuck structure secured to each of said carriages to support said core, said core being movable into engagement with said winder drums, said carriage structure being retractable as said web is wound on said core, and said chuck structures being cantilevered from said carriages to minimize the bending forces on said core, each carriage support structure including a rail structure defining generally horizontally extending grooves therein, the carriage structure having rollers which are slidably disposed in said grooves to move said carriage structure in a generally horizontal direction; said rail structure being disposed adjacent to the drums but in spaced relation therefrom, said rail structure having a generally horizontal top surface, said surface being tapered downwardly on the end adjacent the vertical drums, means to allow said carriage structure to move the chuck structures secured thereto in a generally vertical direction in the area adjacent to the vertical drums, a cam follower, corresponding to each of said carriage structures, said cam followers being rotatably secured to said corresponding carriage structure, said cam follower being in rolling contact with the upper horizontal surface of the rail structure, and said carriage structure being supportable by said follower along the horizontal rail surface, said cam follOwer being in spaced relation from the slanted top surface portion in the area adjacent the vertical drums, a carriage biasing member, said biasing member being securable to the carriage structure, said biasing member exerting a force on the carriage structure in a direction towards the vertical drums to maintain the core with the web thereon in a nip relation with at least one of the drums, a frictional dampening structure associated with each carriage structure, said dampening structure being secured to said support structures and said dampening structure reacting to the vibrations of the movement of the core.
 17. The structure recited in claim 16 wherein the carriage structure comprises: an inner carriage structure and an outer carriage structure, said inner carriage structure having roller members secured thereto and said inner carriage structure being movable within the carriage support structure, said outer carriage structure cooperating in overlapping relationship with said inner carriage, a pin structure being disposed through said inner and outer carriage structures to secure said carriages relative to each other and further allow rotational movement of said inner and outer carriages relative to each other. 